## _cr0436

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## Other formats

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---

### Background and I-PRSP overview
- Burundi is emerging from a long period of civil war that, for most of the 1990s, took a heavy toll on human lives and on the country’s economic and social fabric.
- Authorities prepared an interim poverty reduction strategy paper (Cadre stratégique intérimaire de relance de la croissance économique et de lutte contre la pauvreté — CSLP intérimaire, or I-PRSP).
- I-PRSP process designed in the spirit of the Arusha (Tanzania) Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement, which inter alia led to:
  - a three-year transitional government of national unity,
  - ethnically balanced Parliament and Senate chambers,
  - a landmark midterm presidential rotation (on April 30, 2003),
  - cease-fire agreements with all but one of the antigovernment factions.
- General elections are planned for early 2005.
- I-PRSP presents a long-term vision based on six strategic themes and includes a specific action matrix to be implemented over the period 2003–06.

### The Six Priority Issues in the I-PRSP (Box 1)
- Peace and democratic governance:
  - securing peace and security in the whole country;
  - fostering inclusiveness;
  - promoting national reconciliation and good governance;
  - resettling and reintegrating displaced persons and other victims of conflict.
- Reintegration of conflict victims and disadvantaged groups into the economy:
  - reintegrating demobilized armed groups and war victims;
  - rebuilding facilities;
  - restoring victims to their former properties or arranging for new properties for those who cannot go home.
- Private sector development:
  - expand production, transform agriculture and its marketing;
  - promote microfinance and microenterprises through private sector-led growth;
  - disengage the state from the productive system; industrialize the country; promote tourism and the services sector; advance regional integration.
- Human capital:
  - health, water and sanitation, education, employment promotion, enhancement of the national culture, provision of educational opportunities for the young;
  - deliver high-quality and affordable social services to Burundi’s neediest;
  - provide social safety nets for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.
- HIV/AIDS:
  - multisector awareness and prevention activities;
  - care and treatment of opportunistic infections of HIV-positive persons;
  - provision of antiretroviral treatment for infected persons and for prevention of transmission from mother to child;
  - strengthen capacities of central and decentralized institutions responsible for the program.
- Advancing the role of women in development:
  - guided by the Arusha agreement calling for full rights for women;
  - draft legislation is being discussed in the National Assembly and implementation of measures is central to the I-PRSP and the full PRSP.

### Evaluation of the I-PRSP: strengths and main gaps
- Strengths:
  - Recognizes transition challenges from conflict to peace and aligns with political and security realities.
  - Staffs support government’s approach and main economic priorities: rural development, infrastructure, disengaging the state from the production sector, reviving the private sector, and promoting the mining sector.
  - Reflects broad national ownership and participatory consultations.
- Principal gaps to address in the full PRSP:
  - (i) analytical underpinnings in various areas including growth (in the context of Burundi’s specific challenges, as a small open economy vulnerable to fluctuations in international coffee prices, in a post-conflict context);
  - (ii) development of more detailed sector strategies and programs likely to have a significant impact on poverty;
  - (iii) prioritization, costing and financing of policies and strategies;
  - (iv) more specific targets, indicators and monitoring mechanisms.

### Conception, preparation process, and participation
- Preparation process timeline:
  - Process began in April 2000 with a regional workshop; July 2000 national conference chaired by the Head of State.
  - Broad-based consultations held between July 2000 and January 2002 in Bujumbura and in four regional centers.
  - July 2002: first draft presented to the international community at two workshops chaired by the Head of State.
  - December 2002 roundtable in Geneva presented an emergency poverty reduction program drawing on the I-PRSP.
  - Further domestic consultations conducted in the first half of 2003 to incorporate donor feedback.
- Participation:
  - More than 3,400 delegates (30 percent of whom were women) came from all 17 provinces and were trained by nongovernmental organizations.
  - Consultations included grassroots communities, civil society, the private sector, and sector ministries.
  - Government solicited rebels’ viewpoints during peace and reconciliation process.
- Ownership and policy coordination:
  - I-PRSP reflects consensus-based policymaking consistent with the Arusha agreement.
  - Builds upon economic and social reforms under the government’s economic recovery program for 2002–03, supported by two IDA economic rehabilitation credits and IMF post-conflict emergency assistance.

### Macroeconomic and structural policies
- Macroeconomic framework:
  - Contains a consistent macroeconomic framework aligned with government objectives and the proposed IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF).
  - Projections envisage stronger real growth, lower inflation, and higher social spending.
  - Achievement of fiscal and external objectives depends in large part on the availability of external financial assistance; assumed increase in external aid is in line with projected aid flows from bilateral donors and multilateral institutions.
  - Some policy discussions (e.g., monetary policy) are somewhat general, but overall framework viewed as realistic and appropriately ambitious.
- External policies and growth:
  - Notes potential contribution of regional integration and lists production activities with strong growth potential.
  - Lacks explanation of how external liberalization is consistent with promoting domestic manufacturing activities and needs elaboration.
  - Staffs encourage development in the full PRSP of sources of growth for a small open economy and alternative scenarios that set forth consequences of external or internal shocks that may affect growth.
- Public expenditure management:
  - Government revenue collection is at about 20 percent of GDP.
  - Budget situation leaves little room for increasing antipoverty spending without external support.
  - Public administration and investment expenses have been substantially reduced since the outbreak of hostilities.
  - Costs of setting up a unified national army will prevent much of a peace dividend, so expanding antipoverty programs can be financed only with donor support.
  - Main weakness: lack of harmonization between the nomenclature of the public accounting system and the Budget and absence of links between accounting services in the Ministry of Finances and the Central Bank; cannot have an accurate snapshot of budget execution nor track expenditures from commitment to payment.
  - Issues are being addressed with donor-financed technical assistance and financial support, in particular through IDA’s proposed Economic Management Support Project scheduled for consideration by IDA’s Executive Board on January 22, 2004, the forthcoming Country Financial Accountability Assessment (CFAA) in March 2004, regular Public Expenditure Reviews, and AAPs undertaken jointly by the IMF and IDA.
- Coffee sector prospects:
  - I-PRSP contains few specifics on the coffee sector, which in recent years registered large losses.
  - Persistently low world coffee prices and Burundi’s relatively high production costs raise difficult questions for rural poverty and economy-wide adjustments that are not explicitly addressed.
  - Staffs urge a detailed sector strategy, including safety nets for uncompetitive farmers, in the full PRSP.
- Private and financial sector development:
  - Acknowledges the large weight of the State and the need to foster private sector development for equitable growth and employment.
  - Improving business environment and domestic security is essential to attract foreign investment and improve access to bank financing.
  - I-PRSP stresses importance of a sound financial sector and role of the central bank; staffs encourage further development of these topics in the full PRSP.

### Poverty situation, diagnostics, and monitoring
- Evaluation of poverty reduction strategy:
  - I-PRSP reflects an ambitious strategy to improve social conditions and address transition to lasting peace.
  - Government intends to expand participatory mechanisms to the community level for the full PRSP.
  - I-PRSP identifies a wide-ranging set of specific areas for action and presents an ambitious action matrix for 2003–06; staffs judge implementation feasible provided adequate funding is available.
- Poverty profile and diagnostics:
  - Contains fairly up-to-date data on prevalence and characteristics of poverty using household survey data and consultations.
  - I-PRSP puts forward an estimate of 68 percent of Burundians living in absolute poverty.
  - Full PRSP should contain more detailed analysis and a more precise monitoring and evaluation plan, including new periodic surveys.
- Coordination of objectives and financing:
  - Action framework is strategically sound but has gaps in prioritization, timing, costing, and financing.
  - Discussion on cost and financing (paras. 311–316) concludes with open-ended requests for external support.
  - Government did not provide explicit prioritization of antipoverty objectives.
  - Full PRSP should develop priorities, implementation schedules, cost estimates, and likely financing sources.
- Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):
  - I-PRSP acknowledges importance of achieving the MDGs but does not discuss Burundi’s prospects.
  - While goals for gender participation and access to public services are attainable by 2015, it is unlikely that the other goals can be met in this timeframe given handicaps from a decade of hostilities, forced displacement, and economic decline.
  - Staffs agree on the importance of restoring peaceful conditions and mobilizing external aid on a large scale to achieve the MDGs.
  - Staffs consider the government’s immediate objective of restoring precrisis social indicator levels by 2005 as ambitious yet attainable.

### Sectoral issues and priorities
- Gender and poverty:
  - Role of women is prominently highlighted as a major priority.
  - Despite progress in women’s property and participation rights, women’s development remains constrained by traditional culture, lack of political representation, and conflict-related complications.
  - Staffs recommend the full PRSP include explicit steps to ensure progress.
- Ethnic exclusion and poverty:
  - I-PRSP sidesteps explicit mention of ethnic relations; ethnic divide has been a major factor contributing to violent conflict.
  - Topic is implicitly addressed by the peace process and power-sharing arrangements; staffs would welcome more open acknowledgment and steps to promote ethnical integration in the full PRSP.
- Sectoral priorities supported by staffs:
  - rural development (family farming, livestock production, microfinance),
  - extension of social infrastructure,
  - privatization,
  - exploitation of untapped mining potential.
  - Authorities need a strategy to address urgent problems in the coffee subsector.
  - Staffs support government objectives for social sectors and providing social safety nets, taking into account limited budget resources.
- Health:
  - Strategy focuses on preventive and curative care, sector reforms, bringing basic health services closer to needy communities, and involving communities in health facility management.
  - Rapid spread of HIV/AIDS poses a further challenge; communicable and parasitic diseases remain endemic and health resources have been depleted by war.
- Education:
  - Interim strategy identifies need to restore precrisis enrollment levels through rehabilitation of damaged schools, construction of new ones, provision of school supplies, and training and redeployment of teachers.
  - Full PRSP will permit in-depth systemic reforms.
- Access to water and sanitation:
  - Immediate objective of improving water supply and sanitation systems is supported.
  - I-PRSP calls for fostering partnerships and community management of existing social infrastructure.

### Delivery capacity
- Implementation plans under the I-PRSP rarely go beyond the identification of key actions.
- It is not always clear which government agencies would be responsible for specific actions, nor how they would be financed.
- The existing system of Community Development Committees (para. 347) has in the past demonstrated Burundi’s ability to execute plans and programs at grassroot levels.
- Staffs consider that, although the capacity of the central administration has been weakened by a decade of conflict, implementation capacity through participatory approaches will help in overcoming potential shortcomings.

### Targets and indicators
- Interim PRSP includes a matrix of actions (Annex II) identifying progress indicators.
- Targets are clearly specified; most are attainable and adequate to be measured for progress, as referenced in the text or in Annex I.
- Some objectives are left vague (examples cited: “controlling inflation” and “improving the schooling rate of girls”) and are not tied to an explicit strategy or timeframe.
- Some omissions have been addressed under the structural reform strategies of the government’s program for 2004.
- Staffs recommend seeking greater precision in the design of the full PRSP.

### Social expenditure tracking and monitoring
- Existing expenditure-tracking mechanisms are, by the government’s own admission, insufficient to effectively keep stock of pro-poor expenditures.
- Social classifications are made on the basis of sectoral allocations, with limited breakdown on the nature of expenditures deemed social.
- With IDA’s support, the Ministry of Finance is developing a system to identify quantify, trace and monitor poverty-related expenditures in general and especially those identified in the full PRSP.
- This work will be supported by the Economic Management Support Project, and other capacity building initiatives.

### Results monitoring and evaluation
- Government is putting in place a system in the form of a national information-sharing network to track implementation and evaluate its poverty reduction strategy.
- Government is seeking additional external resources and technical assistance to develop a grassroots system for monitoring key poverty and social indicators, in particular as regards progress toward the MDGs.
- Staffs agree that participatory approaches will be useful in enhancing implementation of the I-PRSP and monitor progress in achieving its targets.

### Assessment of risks and mitigation
- Identified risks to poverty reduction progress:
  - (i) failure to overcome the major impediments to growth and prosperity, namely, a rekindling of hostilities and limited government capacity to design and implement pro-poor economic reform programs;
  - (ii) failure to attract the external support and private investment needed to generate and maintain the momentum of economic and social reforms.
- Staffs concur that derailment of the peace process could make implementation of the full PRSP impossible and a secondary priority.
- Risk mitigation:
  - Continued progress with the peace process, economic stabilization, and regional integration would reduce the first risk.
  - Risks from limited implementation capacity would be mitigated by external assistance and capacity building.

### Timetable for preparation of the full PRSP
- I-PRSP envisages conclusion of a full PRSP by end-2004.
- Consultations to be concluded in mid-2004, with conclusions and recommendations expected by October 2004, drawing on participatory evaluations and sector analysis/studies expected during 2004.
- Several steps depend on donor assistance, but staffs believe authorities’ track record in preparing the I-PRSP warrants confidence in producing the full PRSP within the envisaged timeframe.
- Provided the country situation is judged appropriate, a Country Assistance Strategy could be presented to the IDA Board in December 2005 on the basis of the full PRSP, currently expected to be presented to the Boards of IDA and the IMF in June 2005.

### External support
- External technical support to prepare the full PRSP is being provided by a range of development partners, including Belgium, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
- These partners will continue jointly and individually to support:
  - improvements in the information base,
  - the participatory process,
  - poverty diagnostics,
  - sector strategies,
  - improvements in financial accountability, and
  - costing of policy programs and sector strategies.

### IMF and IDA contributions
- Fund and IDA will continue to contribute through ongoing policy dialogue in the context of their respective country programs.
- Expected approval of a PRGF arrangement in early 2004 will bring poverty reduction to the foreground of IMF surveillance.
- IDA expects to continue to increase its focus on poverty reduction in its adjustment lending and sectoral projects with three operations to be proposed for Board approval in 2004:
  - the Economic Management Support Project;
  - the Demobilization and Reintegration Project; and
  - the Road Rehabilitation Project.
- IDA will also support preparation of the full PRSP through participatory analytical tasks in public expenditure and assessment of sources of, and constraints to, growth.
- IDA is coordinating preparation of the next two year Transitional Support Strategy (TSS), scheduled for Board presentation late in 2004, with development of the full PRSP.

### Conclusion
- I-PRSP summarizes the current state of knowledge on poverty in Burundi derived from the participatory process and national consultations over the past two years.
- Document describes Burundi’s serious poverty situation and presents a poverty reduction strategy integrated into immediate post-conflict priorities stemming from the Arusha agreement.
- Lays out a detailed process for developing a full PRSP in a participatory process within a difficult post–conflict environment.
- IMF and IDA staffs consider that this interim PRSP provides a sound basis for development of a fully participatory PRSP, and for IMF and IDA continued concessional assistance.
- Staffs recommend that the respective Executive Directors of the IMF and IDA reach the same conclusion.

### Key World Bank/Fund events related to the PRSP
- IMF/IDA: Board consideration of I-PRSP and joint staff assessment of interim PRSP — January 2004
- IMF: Board consideration of PRGF arrangement — January 2004
- IMF: First review under the PRGF by Executive Board — June 2004
- IMF/IDA: Board consideration of HIPC Initiative preliminary document — June 2004
- IDA: Board presentation of Transitional Support Strategy — October 2004
- IMF: Second review under the PRGF arrangement by Executive Board — December 2004
- IMF: Third review under the PRGF arrangement by Executive Board — June 2005
- IMF/IDA: Board consideration of full PRSP and accompanying joint staff assessment — June 2005
- IDA: Board presentation of Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) — December 2005
- IMF: Fourth review under the PRGF arrangement by Executive Board — December 2005
- IMF: Fifth review under the PRGF arrangement by Executive Board — June 2006
- IMF: Sixth review under the PRGF arrangement by Executive Board — December 2006
- IMF/IDA: Board consideration of HIPC Initiative completion point document — December 2006

*Source: _cr0436 (IMF/IDA joint staff assessment).*

### 1.      Burundi is emerging from a long period of civil war that, for most of the 1990s, took

### 1.      Burundi is emerging from a long period of civil war that, for most of the 1990s, took

### Background and I-PRSP overview
- Burundi is emerging from a long period of civil war that, for most of the 1990s, took a heavy toll on human lives and on the country’s economic and social fabric.
- Authorities prepared an interim poverty reduction strategy paper (Cadre stratégique intérimaire de relance de la croissance économique et de lutte contre la pauvreté — CSLP intérimaire, or I-PRSP).
- The I-PRSP process was designed in the spirit of the Arusha (Tanzania) Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement, which, inter alia, led to:
  - a three-year transitional government of national unity,
  - ethnically balanced Parliament and Senate chambers,
  - a landmark midterm presidential rotation (on April 30, 2003),
  - cease-fire agreements with all but one of the antigovernment factions.
- General elections are planned for early 2005.
- The I-PRSP presents a long-term vision based on six strategic themes for promoting sustainable and equitable economic growth (see Box 1) and envisages a crucial support role for the international community.
- The I-PRSP includes a specific action matrix to be implemented over the period 2003–06.

### Box 1 — The Six Priority Issues in the I-PRSP
- Peace and democratic governance:
  - securing peace and security in the whole country;
  - fostering inclusiveness;
  - promoting national reconciliation and good governance;
  - resettling and reintegrating displaced persons and other victims of conflict.
- Reintegration of conflict victims and disadvantaged groups into the economy:
  - reintegrating demobilized armed groups and war victims;
  - rebuilding facilities;
  - restoring victims to their former properties or arranging for new properties for those who cannot go home.
- Private sector development:
  - expand production, transform agriculture and its marketing;
  - promote microfinance and microenterprises through private sector-led growth;
  - disengage the state from the productive system; industrialize the country; promote tourism and the services sector; advance regional integration.
- Human capital:
  - health, water and sanitation, education, employment promotion, enhancement of the national culture, provision of educational opportunities for the young;
  - deliver high-quality and affordable social services to Burundi’s neediest;
  - provide social safety nets for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.
- HIV/AIDS:
  - multisector awareness and prevention activities;
  - care and treatment of opportunistic infections of HIV-positive persons;
  - provision of antiretroviral treatment for infected persons and for prevention of transmission from mother to child;
  - strengthen capacities of central and decentralized institutions responsible for the program.
- Advancing the role of women in development:
  - guided by the Arusha agreement calling for full rights for women;
  - draft legislation is being discussed in the National Assembly and implementation of measures is central to the I-PRSP and the full PRSP.

### Evaluation of the I-PRSP: strengths and main gaps
- Strengths and staff support:
  - I-PRSP recognizes transition challenges from conflict to peace and aligns with political and security realities.
  - Staffs support the government’s approach and main economic priorities: rural development, infrastructure, disengaging the state from the production sector, reviving the private sector, and promoting the mining sector.
  - I-PRSP reflects broad national ownership and participatory consultations.
- Principal gaps to address in the full PRSP:
  - (i) analytical underpinnings in various areas including growth (in the context of Burundi’s specific challenges, as a small open economy vulnerable to fluctuations in international coffee prices, in a post-conflict context);
  - (ii) development of more detailed sector strategies and programs likely to have a significant impact on poverty;
  - (iii) prioritization, costing and financing of policies and strategies;
  - (iv) more specific targets, indicators and monitoring mechanisms.

### Conception, preparation process, and participation
- Preparation process:
  - Process began in April 2000 with a regional workshop; July 2000 national conference chaired by the Head of State.
  - Broad-based consultations held between July 2000 and January 2002 in Bujumbura and in four regional centers.
  - July 2002: first draft presented to the international community at two workshops chaired by the Head of State.
  - December 2002 roundtable in Geneva presented an emergency poverty reduction program drawing on the I-PRSP.
  - Further domestic consultations conducted in the first half of 2003 to incorporate donor feedback.
- Participation:
  - More than 3,400 delegates (30 percent of whom were women) came from all 17 provinces and were trained by nongovernmental organizations.
  - Consultations included grassroots communities, civil society, the private sector, and sector ministries.
  - Government solicited rebels’ viewpoints during peace and reconciliation process.
- Ownership and policy coordination:
  - I-PRSP reflects consensus-based policymaking consistent with the Arusha agreement.
  - Builds upon economic and social reforms under the government’s economic recovery program for 2002–03, supported by two IDA economic rehabilitation credits and IMF post-conflict emergency assistance, plus existing or planned social relief programs.

### Macroeconomic and structural policies
- Macroeconomic framework:
  - I-PRSP contains a consistent macroeconomic framework aligned with the government’s objectives and the proposed IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF).
  - Projections envisage stronger real growth, lower inflation, and higher social spending.
  - Achievement of fiscal and external objectives depends in large part on the availability of external financial assistance.
  - The assumed increase in external aid is in line with projected aid flows from bilateral donors and multilateral institutions.
  - Some policy discussions (e.g., monetary policy) are somewhat general, but overall framework viewed as realistic and appropriately ambitious.
- External policies and growth:
  - I-PRSP notes potential contribution of regional integration and lists production activities with strong growth potential.
  - It lacks explanation of how external liberalization is consistent with promoting domestic manufacturing activities and needs elaboration on coordinating these strategies.
  - Staffs encourage development in the full PRSP of sources of growth for a small open economy and alternative scenarios that set forth consequences of external or internal shocks that may affect growth.
- Public expenditure management:
  - Government revenue collection is at about 20 percent of GDP.
  - Budget situation leaves little room for increasing antipoverty spending without external support.
  - Public administration and investment expenses have been substantially reduced since the outbreak of hostilities.
  - Costs of setting up a unified national army will prevent much of a peace dividend, so expanding antipoverty programs can be financed only with donor support.
  - Main weakness: lack of harmonization between the nomenclature of the public accounting system and the Budget and absence of links between accounting services in the Ministry of Finances and the Central Bank; cannot have an accurate snapshot of budget execution nor track expenditures from commitment to payment.
  - Issues are being addressed with donor-financed technical assistance and financial support, in particular through IDA’s proposed Economic Management Support Project scheduled for consideration by IDA’s Executive Board on January 22, 2004, the forthcoming Country Financial Accountability Assessment (CFAA) in March 2004, regular Public Expenditure Reviews, and AAPs undertaken jointly by the IMF and IDA.
- Coffee sector prospects:
  - I-PRSP contains few specifics on the coffee sector, which in recent years registered large losses.
  - Persistently low world coffee prices and Burundi’s relatively high production costs raise difficult questions for rural poverty and economy-wide adjustments that are not explicitly addressed.
  - Staffs urge a detailed sector strategy, including safety nets for uncompetitive farmers, in the full PRSP.
- Private and financial sector development:
  - I-PRSP acknowledges the large weight of the State and the need to foster private sector development for equitable growth and employment.
  - Improving business environment and domestic security is essential to attract foreign investment and improve access to bank financing.
  - I-PRSP stresses importance of a sound financial sector and role of the central bank; staffs encourage further development of these topics in the full PRSP.

### Poverty situation, diagnostics, and monitoring
- Evaluation of poverty reduction strategy:
  - I-PRSP reflects an ambitious strategy to improve social conditions and address transition to lasting peace.
  - Government intends to expand participatory mechanisms to the community level for the full PRSP to obtain broader representation of the poor and vulnerable groups.
  - I-PRSP identifies a wide-ranging set of specific areas for action and presents an ambitious action matrix for 2003–06; staffs concur and judge implementation feasible provided adequate funding is available.
- Poverty profile and diagnostics:
  - I-PRSP contains fairly up-to-date data on prevalence and characteristics of poverty.
  - Combination of household survey data and consultations provided information on key social indicators and regional incidence profiles.
  - I-PRSP puts forward an estimate of 68 percent of Burundians living in absolute poverty.
  - Full PRSP should contain more detailed analysis of data to better assess key determinants of poverty and priority policy areas and should include a more precise monitoring and evaluation plan, including new periodic surveys to determine poverty and social impact of policy actions.
- Coordination of objectives and financing:
  - I-PRSP action framework is strategically sound but has gaps in prioritization, timing, costing, and financing.
  - Discussion on cost and financing (paras. 311–316) concludes with open-ended requests for external support.
  - Government did not provide explicit prioritization of antipoverty objectives, leaving uncertainty on likely course of action.
  - Full PRSP should develop priorities, implementation schedules, cost estimates, and likely financing sources of poverty reduction policies.
- Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):
  - I-PRSP acknowledges importance of achieving the MDGs but does not discuss Burundi’s prospects.
  - While goals for gender participation and access to public services are attainable by 2015, it is unlikely that the other goals can be met in this timeframe given handicaps from a decade of hostilities, forced displacement, and economic decline.
  - Staffs agree on the importance of restoring peaceful conditions and mobilizing external aid on a large scale to achieve the MDGs.
  - Staffs consider the government’s immediate objective of restoring precrisis social indicator levels by 2005 as ambitious yet attainable.

### Sectoral issues and priorities
- Gender and poverty:
  - Role of women is prominently highlighted as a major priority.
  - Despite progress in women’s property and participation rights, women’s development remains constrained by traditional culture, lack of political representation, and conflict-related complications.
  - Staffs recommend the full PRSP include explicit steps to ensure progress in this domain.
- Ethnic exclusion and poverty:
  - I-PRSP sidesteps explicit mention of ethnic relations; ethnic divide has been a major factor contributing to violent conflict.
  - Topic is implicitly addressed by the peace process and power-sharing arrangements, but staffs would welcome more open acknowledgment and steps to promote ethnical integration in the full PRSP.
- Sectoral priorities supported by staffs:
  - rural development (family farming, livestock production, microfinance),
  - extension of social infrastructure,
  - privatization,
  - exploitation of untapped mining potential.
  - Authorities need a strategy to address urgent problems in the coffee subsector.
  - Staffs support government objectives for social sectors and providing social safety nets, taking into account limited budget resources.
- Health:
  - Strategy focuses on preventive and curative care, sector reforms, bringing basic health services closer to needy communities, and involving communities in health facility management.
  - Rapid spread of HIV/AIDS poses a further challenge; communicable and parasitic diseases remain endemic and health resources have been depleted by war.
- Education:
  - Interim strategy identifies need to restore precrisis enrollment levels through rehabilitation of damaged schools, construction of new ones, provision of school supplies, and training and redeployment of teachers.
  - Full PRSP will permit in-depth systemic reforms.
- Access to water and sanitation:
  - Immediate objective of improving water supply and sanitation systems is supported.
  - I-PRSP calls for fostering partnerships and community management of existing social infrastructure.

*Source: _cr0436 (https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2004/_cr0436.pdf)*

### 24.      Delivery capacity. Implementation plans under the I-PRSP rarely go beyond the

### _cr0436 - 24.      Delivery capacity. Implementation plans under the I-PRSP rarely go beyond the

### Delivery capacity
- Implementation plans under the I-PRSP rarely go beyond the identification of key actions.
- It is not always clear which government agencies would be responsible for specific actions, nor how they would be financed.
- The existing system of Community Development Committees (para. 347) has in the past demonstrated Burundi’s ability to execute plans and programs at grassroot levels.
- Staffs consider that, although the capacity of the central administration has been weakened by a decade of conflict, implementation capacity through participatory approaches will help in overcoming potential shortcomings.

### Targets and indicators
- The interim PRSP includes a matrix of actions (Annex II) identifying progress indicators.
- Targets are clearly specified; most are attainable and adequate to be measured for progress, as referenced in the text or in Annex I.
- Some objectives are left vague (examples cited: “controlling inflation” and “improving the schooling rate of girls”) and are not tied to an explicit strategy or timeframe.
- Some omissions have been addressed under the structural reform strategies of the government’s program for 2004.
- Staffs recommend seeking greater precision in the design of the full PRSP.

### Social expenditure tracking and monitoring
- Existing expenditure-tracking mechanisms are, by the government’s own admission, insufficient to effectively keep stock of pro-poor expenditures.
- Social classifications are made on the basis of sectoral allocations, with limited breakdown on the nature of expenditures deemed social.
- With IDA’s support, the Ministry of Finance is developing a system to identify quantify, trace and monitor poverty-related expenditures in general and especially those identified in the full PRSP.
- This work will be supported by the Economic Management Support Project, and other capacity building initiatives.

### Results monitoring and evaluation
- The government is putting in place a system in the form of a national information-sharing network to track implementation and evaluate its poverty reduction strategy.
- The government is seeking additional external resources and technical assistance to develop a grassroots system for monitoring key poverty and social indicators, in particular as regards progress toward the MDGs.
- Staffs agree that participatory approaches will be useful in enhancing implementation of the I-PRSP and monitor progress in achieving its targets.

### Assessment of risks
- The I-PRSP identifies several risks to poverty reduction progress, including:
  - (i) failure to overcome the major impediments to growth and prosperity, namely, a rekindling of hostilities and limited government capacity to design and implement pro-poor economic reform programs; and
  - (ii) failure to attract the external support and private investment needed to generate and maintain the momentum of economic and social reforms.
- Staffs concur that derailment of the peace process could make implementation of the full PRSP impossible and a secondary priority.
- Risk mitigation notes:
  - Continued progress with the peace process, economic stabilization, and regional integration would reduce the first risk.
  - Risks from limited implementation capacity would be mitigated by external assistance and capacity building.

### Timetable for preparation of the full PRSP (Steps and timeframe)
- The I-PRSP envisages the conclusion of a full PRSP by end-2004.
- Consultations are to be concluded in mid-2004, with conclusions and recommendations expected by October 2004, drawing on participatory evaluations and sector analysis/studies expected during 2004.
- Several steps depend on donor assistance, but staffs believe authorities’ track record in preparing the I-PRSP warrants confidence in producing the full PRSP within the envisaged timeframe.

### External support
- External technical support to prepare the full PRSP is being provided by a range of development partners, including Belgium, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
- These partners will continue jointly and individually to support:
  - improvements in the information base,
  - the participatory process,
  - poverty diagnostics,
  - sector strategies,
  - improvements in financial accountability, and
  - costing of policy programs and sector strategies.

### IMF and IDA contributions
- The Fund and IDA will continue to contribute to the government’s antipoverty strategy through ongoing policy dialogue in the context of their respective country programs.
- The expected approval of a PRGF arrangement in early 2004 will bring poverty reduction to the foreground of IMF surveillance.
- IDA expects to continue to increase its focus on poverty reduction in its adjustment lending and sectoral projects with three operations to be proposed for Board approval in 2004:
  - the Economic Management Support Project;
  - the Demobilization and Reintegration Project; and
  - the Road Rehabilitation Project.
- IDA will also support preparation of the full PRSP through participatory analytical tasks in public expenditure and assessment of sources of, and constraints to, growth.
- IDA is coordinating preparation of the next two year Transitional Support Strategy (TSS), scheduled for Board presentation late in 2004, with development of the full PRSP.
- Provided the country situation is judged appropriate, a Country Assistance Strategy could be presented to the IDA Board in December 2005 on the basis of the full PRSP, currently expected to be presented to the Boards of IDA and the IMF in June 2005.

### Conclusion
- The I-PRSP summarizes the current state of knowledge on poverty in Burundi derived from the participatory process and national consultations over the past two years.
- The document describes Burundi’s serious poverty situation and presents a poverty reduction strategy integrated into immediate post-conflict priorities stemming from the Arusha agreement.
- The document lays out a detailed process for developing a full PRSP in a participatory process within a difficult post–conflict environment.
- The staffs of the IMF and IDA consider that this interim PRSP provides a sound basis for development of a fully participatory PRSP, and for IMF and IDA continued concessional assistance.
- The staffs recommend that the respective Executive Directors of the IMF and IDA reach the same conclusion.

### Key World Bank/Fund events related to the PRSP (as listed)
- IMF/IDA: Board consideration of I-PRSP and joint staff assessment of interim PRSP — January 2004
- IMF: Board consideration of PRGF arrangement — January 2004
- IMF: First review under the PRGF by Executive Board — June 2004
- IMF/IDA: Board consideration of HIPC Initiative preliminary document — June 2004
- IDA: Board presentation of Transitional Support Strategy — October 2004
- IMF: Second review under the PRGF arrangement by Executive Board — December 2004
- IMF: Third review under the PRGF arrangement by Executive Board — June 2005
- IMF/IDA: Board consideration of full PRSP and accompanying joint staff assessment — June 2005
- IDA: Board presentation of Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) — December 2005
- IMF: Fourth review under the PRGF arrangement by Executive Board — December 2005
- IMF: Fifth review under the PRGF arrangement by Executive Board — June 2006
- IMF: Sixth review under the PRGF arrangement by Executive Board — December 2006
- IMF/IDA: Board consideration of HIPC Initiative completion point document — December 2006

*Source: _cr0436 - 24.      Delivery capacity. Implementation plans under the I-PRSP rarely go beyond the (IMF/IDA joint staff assessment).*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2004/_cr0436.pdf_